Talks to Watch

31 Hamming, Learning to Learn: You and Your Research, 6 June 1995

9K views · Mar 4, 2018 · 44:24 · 3 HN recommenders · 4 mentions · discussed 2020–2024

The final lecture of Richard Hamming's Learning to Learn course, from 1995, based on his well-known talk 'You and Your Research'. It covers how to do important work and build a career.

Why Hacker News points people here: HN people recommend it as the capstone of Hamming's course and as career advice about working on important problems.

“It's the last lecture in a wonderful 31-lecture course”HN comment, 2021

What Hacker News said 4

Strongly recommendsteddyhDec 2020

“I prefer Richard Hamming’s series”

Hamming on careers and doing research that matters.

Full comment

I prefer Richard Hamming’s series: this video “ I have given a talk with this title many times, and it turns out from discussions after the talk I could have just as well have called it "You and Your Engineering Career," or even "You and Your Career." But I left the word "Research" in the title because that is what I have most studied. ”

in “John Carmack: Career Advice” · view on HN
Strongly recommendsyesenadamJun 2021

“It's the last lecture in a wonderful 31-lecture course”

Hamming asks if you work on the most important problems.

Full comment

This reads a lot like Hamming's talk You and Your Research applied to programming. It's the last lecture in a wonderful 31-lecture course, about maths, computers, physics, technology, illustrated through Hamming's life. He'd spend his lunch hours chatting with people at Bell Labs, asking them if they were working on the most important problems in their field, and if not, why not?! this video

RecommendsteddyhJul 2022

“If what you are doing is not important, and if you don't think it is going to lead to something important, why are you working on it?”

Hamming's question about working on important things.

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“If what you are doing is not important, and if you don't think it is going to lead to something important, why are you working on it?” — Richard Hamming this video

in “Allocating resources where they solve the most important problems” · view on HN
RecommendsTangurena2Jan 2024

“lecture version”

Lecture version of Hamming's essay on always learning.

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It is a great book, and it includes an amazing essay by him titled You and Your Research [0][1] - which explains why it is important to "always be learning". 0 - link 1 - this video (lecture version)

in “Ask HN: Good books on philosophy of engineering?” · view on HN